Here at Royals Review, we've paid acute attention to the remarkably infrequent usage of potential power threats Craig Brazell and Justin Huber, as well as the lost opportunities for mediocre Paul Phillips to spell historically incompetent Jason LaRue. However, I've been even more frustrated recently by the equally sparse rationing of playing time for September call-up pitchers.

On Friday, after Brian Bannister hurled his standard six outstanding innings, it seemed like an optimal time for, say, Luke Hochevar, Brandon Duckworth or Leo Nunez to protect the 4-1 lead. (I realize Jorge de la Rosa is also available, but the Royals would have to boast a much larger lead for me to feel comfortable with his insertion into the game.) Given that Soria would be handling the 9th if the lead were to remain intact, all Hochevar/Duckworth/Nunez would have to do is allow two or fewer runs in two innings. Instead, Bell summoned the clearly tiring Peralta (who reached his career high in innings last week), the recently overtaxed Bale and Riske (the least offensive of the selections, except for the fact that he came out for the 9th with Soria warmed.) I commented on this during the game thread (albeit after the game's completion), and Grudz69 added aptly that Bell's neglect of available young resources recalls "a child who plays only with [his/her] favorite toys, completely ignoring the birthday presents that they got last week."

On Sunday, the Royals followed the same formula into the 7th: outstanding start and 4-1 lead followed by inept relief from out-of-gas bullpen help (Bale again.) This time, fortunately, Duckworth, Gobble (hey, he CAN actually pitch to more than one batter) and Soria saved the game. But when the Royals have a three run or larger lead, I'd love to see what Hochevar could do for an inning or two, unless those three shutout innings for the Yankees inexplicably comprise his entire September audition. Not only might the usage of Hochevar and Nunez answer some questions about the future, but also I feel these prospects give the Royals a better chance of winning close late-season games than exhausted relievers.